


Guardian No Longer

by PolarGrizz47



Series: Darkness in the Light [3]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Arguing, Issues with the Vanguard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 21:05:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15938273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolarGrizz47/pseuds/PolarGrizz47
Summary: “No,” Evelyn hisses, expanding out of her shell, the glow intense, purple painting the walls. “We are no longer your Guardians.”





	Guardian No Longer

**Author's Note:**

> Another entry for Adrian's lore!!

Adrian stands still as Zavala circles him. His blue eyes are cold, judgmental. Evelyn stays close to Adrian’s throat, pressing her shell to his chilled skin both to comfort him and herself.

The Titan Vanguard’s own Ghost glares at her with ample amounts of disappointment. Evelyn hadn’t kept her Guardian alive - and now? Now they were one with the darkness.

It was a sin among Ghosts. But Evelyn felt nothing but pleasure with her choice.

The Traveler had  _ abandoned _  them.

And nobody understood that.

Evelyn did what she had to do, and she would never regret her choice. Adrian was worth anything, worth it all.

“Exactly what happened?” Zavala spoke, voice even and cutting, “Explain to me why you chose to  _ leave _  the light.”

Adrian’s hands clenched into fists and he narrowed his gaze, staring hard at the Titan, unflinching. Evelyn looks between them before she began.

“We were left in a new place -- it was off the charts. A new dimension, possibly - when the explosion happened - our ship was --”

“You willingly left it, didn’t you?” Zavala cuts in harshly.

Adrian thins his lips and Eve shakes herself back and forth, “No!”

“Then how did  _ this _  happen?” He pointed accusingly to the Void energy that glowed around Adrian’s fingertips. “A rouge Guardian still worships the light. And yet you? You turned against it.”

The Void whispers in their ear, comforting them, explaining that their plight wasn’t necessary. They were wasting their time with the Vanguard.

The Hunter looked around the dimly lit room, his current interrogation sending goosebumps of discomfort over his skin. Cayde-6 was leaning against the corner, his arms crossed and blue eyes focused on the duo, his expression was one of disinterest. Ikora watched them too, her Ghost by her shoulder and her eyes shining with  _ pity _ .

Adrian’s gut twisted.

Evelyn is immediately filled with rage as her Hunter’s discomfort begins to seep into their connection. She flies out from the safety of his throat and into Zavala’s face, inches apart from his nose.

“The Traveler left us! You all left us!” Evelyn shouts, voice echoing in the closed-off room. Zavala grunts as if to begin speaking once more and she sharply hisses, “You all act like Gods in this Tower. High and mighty while Guardian's do the dirty work. Your own fireteam claims to be here for all of us -- but when we needed you? You did  _ nothing _  but sit idle. Don’t lie -- I looked through the files. You marked us MIA and swept us under the rug.”

She flies to Cayde next, her and Sundancer momentarily staring off before Evelyn speaks coldly, “You don’t even care enough to be a Vanguard. You are lazy, showy, undisciplined. How many Hunters have perished under your command?”

Cayde bristles and stammers as Evelyn wheels towards Ikora. She stares at the Warlock silently, taking in her sympathy, her regret. They didn't need it - what they needed was people who could actually prove their worth - who could help them and care for them. When she speaks to the woman, her voice is softer, rawer. “And you… out of everyone here, you know the Void well. You know that there's a difference between the Traveler’s energy and the raw potential of the Void… out of everyone, we thought that you’d at least… understand. Might help us...”

Ikora merely bows her head as the Ghost floats back towards Adrian, eye narrowed at Zavala as she passes over his head.

The Titan stands still, hands curled into fists and teeth gritted.

Adrian lifts his hand and cradles Evelyn close, curling his fingers around her shell. He pulls her to his chest, protectively and thankfully. He only knew how to speak with actions, and with paper - but here, there is no time to write and nothing to do that wouldn’t elicit violence. He flounders under all their gazes, feeling out of place and unnatural.

After being alone for so long, it’s hard to look people in the eye. Especially when they only judge him, blame him for something that he had no control over.

Finally, Ikora steps forwards. “Evelyn is right,” She puts a hand on Zavala’s shoulder to soothe out the tension, her gaze sharpening as Zavala stiffens at the idea. “We could’ve looked closer for them - but we did not. And they found a new way to survive.”

“I do not trust this darkness or any Guardian that  _ welcomes _  it,” The Titan intones, his gaze still on Adrian’s features. In the dimness of the windowless room, the Hunter’s green eyes seem to have a purple tint to them, glowing like dying embers. Taunting him, a testament to the failures of the light.

Cayde says nothing, chewing over what Evelyn had thrown at him. When he glances at Adrian, the other Hunter glares as if he blamed the Vanguard for his entrapment in that dark hell. It was something new, seeing a Guardian that has left their light, yet still lived and fought and died all the same.

It was sobering.

The Traveler wasn’t the only one who could grant glory.

Adrian lifts his gaze to Ikora, nodding in brief thanks, fingers still curled around Evelyn's shell carefully. He glances to Zavala, into his cold eyes, blind with hatred for anything not blessed by the light, and he sneers.

The Titan steps forwards, his tone cold as steel, "You are not welcome in the Vanguard, child of darkness."

Evelyn vibrates with energy, her purple glow brightening until Adrian releases her and she expands her shell, looking at Zavala with fury. “You are a fool that clings to a past that is long dead! We helped you win this war -- without us, you all could’ve died. And this is how we’re repaid? With interrogation?!”

“All Guardians who warrant our examination must undergo it,” Zavala explains, voice clinical and distant.

Adrian squares his shoulders and looks around the room once more. Ikora had her own theories, but Cayde and Zavala would not be swayed. He shook his head and took a step forwards, towards the door where Zavala stood strong, blocking his way out.

“No,” Evelyn hisses, expanding out of her shell, the glow intense, purple painting the walls. “We are no longer your  _ Guardians _ .”

The light above their head suddenly flickers and shatters, raining glass down upon the room as it was bathed in darkness. The Titan leans against the door and readies his arms to fight. The Vanguard Ghosts collectively shine a light, but the room is empty, only a fizzle of leftover Void energy remains where the rogue Guardian had once stood.

Zavala snarls with rage and turns onto Ikora, “He cannot be trusted! They are dangerous --”

“They are scared and vulnerable and alone,” The Warlock reminds, “They helped us save the Traveler -”

“Yet they curse its name!”

While the two argue, Cayde looks at the room and wonders how deeply intertwined the duo was to the Void. They walked between worlds on the edge of a blade, slipping in and out of the darkness like there were no barriers, no walls to cage them.

He doesn’t like how he’s filled with jealousy and awe.

-:-

Adrian stumbles back into their dimension with a gasp and a drip of blood down his chin. He wipes at his nose and leans against the nearest wall, collecting himself briefly as Evelyn appears in front of him.

“We did it,” She says excitedly, though her eye softens with worry. “You’re bleeding.”

The Hunter nods at her tiredly, feeling winded. They’d never been able to walk between worlds for very long. The pull of the Void dimension was strong, and Adrian feared that he’d be trapped there once more if he lingered too long.

His nose stops bleeding quickly and he breathes in the scent of blood. It is frightfully comforting.

A quick glance around his environment proves that he was near the Speaker’s refurbished living quarters, sitting abandoned until a new one took his place.

“How rich,” Evelyn remarks, floating close to Adrian to fall into his hand. He cradles her delicately, slowly moving away from the hallowed ground. With his free hand, he tugs his ruined cloak up, stained with old blood and dust, a few cuts of pure Void energy slicing through the lowest edges of the garment, the material stained by its power.

“I’ll call up our ship, and we’ll be out of here,” She looks into his hollow eyes and feels a pang of loneliness and regret snap at them both. It only grows as they hear the booming voice of Shaxx, cheering on a fresh Crucible match.

Adrian manages a smile, but it does not reach his eyes.

While they wait, Adrian leans against a wall and slowly moves the fingers of his right hand. The Void corruption was starting to grow along his armor again. Using his bow and his daggers too much and too often caused this. The energy stained him and grew, feeding off of him in exchange for their power.

He’d need to lie low for a few days in order for it to fade. Or it would grow and spread over his arm, consume him completely if he let the blood frenzy let it. The problem was idleness, the boredom that came with it. He’d have to find something to occupy his time.

Green eyes lift to the sky as the hum of their ship’s engine draws nearer and he pulls Evelyn closer to his chest in another silent thanks. She listens to his heartbeat and relaxes, tries to let go of the poisonous hatred for the Vanguard.

It won't be easy to do so.

Their ship is small and unassuming and they phase into it with a flicker of purple and gray. Within seconds, they are leaving the Tower and jumping into the stars, leaving nothing behind.

This was never truly their home.

While the energy streaks of their ship fade into the sky, a man steps closer to the edges of the balcony where he’d been subtly spying on the void-gifted hunter. The Drifter grins and toys with green token while he thinks over where the two would hide and recover. “Well, well. Looks like the new kid in town isn’t welcome. Feels familiar, huh, buddy?” He glances at his Ghost and raises his brows. “The Vanguard clings too tightly to their light… a real damn shame They're missing out on all the fun stuff.”

**Author's Note:**

> Poor guy... The Vanguard cannot trust the darkness that they were sworn to fight against. Adrian and Eve leave the Tower alone, with very few friends.


End file.
